The French satellite operator Eutelsat was put into the spotlight last week as a potential replacement for Elon Musks Starlink in Ukraine – and possibly a wider Europe.
Eva Berneke, Eutelsat CEO said the company was in the advanced Discussions with the EU about the expansion of the Internet service in Ukraine. She also said that Eutelsat was in “very positive conversations” with Italy to offer government officials an encrypted communication service. In the same week, the investors gathered behind Eutelsat and sent theirs Shares rise over 500%.
But what exactly is Eutelsat? And could Starlink replace it realistically in Ukraine and beyond?
An independence mission
In 1977 17 European countries came together to form themselves The European Telecommunications satellite organization – for short “Eutelsat”. The idea was to develop a satellite -based telecommunications infrastructure regardless of the USA or the Soviet Union.
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In 1983 Eutelsat became the first European provider of von Satellite television. The company was privatized in 2001, and in 2023 it was brought together with the British OneWeb the world's third largest satellite operator.
With the merger, Eutelsat inherited OneWebs constellation of orbit satellites with low earth for internet communication-a setup similar to its larger rival Starlink.
How do you work satellites?
Eutelsat currently has 653 OneWeb satellites that circle the earth and each circle around 1,200 km above the surface. This relative closeness leads to a lower latency and a faster internet speed compared to conventional geostationary satellites, which are around 30 -further in space.
Floor stations on earth are connected to the internet and beam data on satellites that circle above. The satellites then send the data to user terminals, small devices with antennas that enable internet access in places where conventional connections are not available. These user terminals are particularly useful in remote areas, aircraft, ships, vehicles or – as we have seen in Ukraine – conflict zones.
Can Eutelsat Starlink replace in Ukraine?
TNW announced that it offers the same reporting and latency functions as Starlink. The low-ear orbit services (Low-Earth Orbit) are already used in Ukraine, where they support the government and institutional communication. In addition, Eutelsat said that his GEO systems (Geo -Systems Geo -Bort) could offer additional capacities about Ukraine and the “stronger resilience” for critical infrastructure connectivity.
Eutelsat currently has around 2,000 user terminals in Ukraine. This is put in the shade of the 40,000 of Starlink, but Berneke said that your company could reach this number “in a few months”.
However, the capacity that would quickly increase this would face some serious logistical challenges, especially as OneWeb The terminals are delivered by third -party companies, in contrast to Starlink, which builds its internal task.
Poland And the USA, among other things, contributed to financing the use of Starlink through Ukraine. Similar support would probably be necessary for A quick introduction of OneWeb terminals, especially in view of the Eutelsat is not so healthy financial concerns.
Then there is the technician. OneWebs satellites are older and less advanced than that of those of those of the Starlink. They lack the laser connection interlite technology that improves the cover. They also have far fewer satellites in orbit than Starlink, which has around 7,000.
However, if the EU is serious to replace Starlink in Ukraine, it will probably have to be satisfied with the second best. The block also has to enter into some serious financial obligations. The word from Poland this weekend gave positive news on this front.
In A post On X on Sunday the foreign minister of Poland said the country was forced “To look for other suppliers” If SpaceX is “an unreliable provider”. Warsaw is currently funding half of the 42,000 Starlink terminals that work in the country at a price of around $ 50 million per year.
In the long term, Europe has its bets on Iris²A multi-orbit satellite internet constellation that is expected to switch on in 2030. There are also reports that a new Airbus Leonardo-Thales Alenia Space Joint venture With the name “Project Bromo”, the challenge of starlinks of global dominance is planning.
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